Dark and Light
by GoThIcal-Writer
Summary: AU Before Hagrid arrived to collect Harry from Godric's Hollow, he was taken and raised by a mysterious figure. 15 years later Harry Evans, a muggleborn, arrives at Hogwarts. Vampire Harry, HD mate slash. Read inside for better summary!
1. Chapter 1

AU - Before Hagrid arrived to collect Harry from Godric's Hollow, he was taken and raised by a mysterious figure. 15 years later Harry Evans, a muggleborn, arrives at Hogwarts. With Voldemort rising in power and the wizarding world preparing for war, who's side is Harry on? Vampire Harry, HD slash.

A/N: This story is similarly titled to my other story (The Line Between Dark and Light) because it has the same concept of Harry having both dark and light aspects. Harry is half vampire in both and he battles with his vampiric instincts in different ways. That said, you'll find that there are few other similarities in the two stories. Draco is Harry's mate in this one, but don't think Veela, think Vampire. ;)

* * *

The fire at Godric's Hollow continued to blaze brightly. In the entry hall, the lifeless body of a young man with unruly black hair lay still, staring ahead with a determined expression on his face. Up the stairs lay the dead body of a petite woman with fiery red hair and wire rimmed glasses. In the room behind her was a small child with a lightning bolt shaped scar on his forehead, crying loudly and not comprehending why his mother would not attend to him. A loud creak could be heard as the roof of the house lost it's last support and began to cave in.

Moments before the last living inhabitant of the house was crushed, a stong magic force rushed through the house, putting out the fire and restoring the roof. The haggard form of a cloaked figure with a long grey beard now stood in the entry hall, staring down at the body of his last living decendant.

"So I live to witness the last of the Potter line..." a sad voice, gruff from misuse issued from the shadowed folds of the cloak. The figure sighed and continued on his path through Godric's Hollow and up the stairs. Sparing little notice to the body of the dead man's wife at the top of the stairs, he simply stepped over it and continued on. The figure released a gasp when he found the very much alive form of the young Potter heir crying on the floor of his room, the folded remains of the Dark Lord's robes before him. The figure stooped low and lifted the child, cradling him in his arms. It was a new feeling to the old man, one he decided he would have to grow accustomed to.

The figure and the child abruptly vanished from the house and appeared on the lawn outside. Holding the baby with one arm, the figure drew his wand with the other and pointed it at what remained of Godric's Hollow. A dark incantation was issued and with a loud boom, the house exploded. The baby cried loudly at the noise, and the figure grimaced as he shifted it in his arms. The figure and the child vanished once again, leaving behind nothing but a large crater where Godric's Hollow once existed.

This was the scene that Rubeus Hagrid found when he arrived, just moments later.

* * *

Albus Dumbledore sighed as he sat in his office at Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He silently added the Potters to the growing list in his mind of those who had died for the cause; those who needed to be remembered. He knew, of course, that the Potter's would be the last of those who had given their lives to be forgotten. Lily's ancient spell had defeated Voldemort, and her child would always be remembered for that.

Dumbledore tiredly pushed himself up from his chair and grabbed his cloak. A new home for Harry Potter still had to be arranged. He was reaching towards his pot of floo powder when Fawkes appeared next to him in a flash of fire. Dumbledore's eyes widened slightly. He had sent Fawkes to assure that Hagrid safely brought Harry Potter to his new home. Wasting no time, he grabbed on to Fawkes and a wall of fire rose around them, falling a second later to reveal Godric's Hollow. But instead of a house, Dumbledore was confronted with only a large crater.

"Dumbledore!" Hagrid yelled as he approached the headmaster. His eyes shown bright with tears, "It's gone, everything's gone. It's all been blown away..."

Dumbledore knew immediately that this was not the work of the Dark Lord. The house was completely disintegrated, and the dark mark was not floating above the crater. Tom Riddle had not done this. So Lily's magic had worked, but someone else had arrived after the Fidelus charm had fallen and before Hagrid. Could this person have destroyed the house and the young Potter heir with it?

The wind whipped around him as Dumbledore cautiously approached the crater and stepped into it, venturing towards the very center of the blast. He waved his wand in the air and a bright green glow appeared at it's tip. _So it was a dark spell that did this._ The only Dark Wizard he knew of who could have done this was Voldemort himself. But Voldemort was gone before this had happened. That meant that another powerful Dark Wizard was abound. Why would a powerful wizard, one who must have been disguising his power, choose this moment to make himself known? Unless...it was _him._ But he was long dead, surely?

Dumbledore sighed and turned around to the waiting form of his half-giant grounds keeper, "Lets go back, Hagrid. I'm afraid the young Potter child is lost to us."

As he and Hagrid apparated just outside the wards of Hogwarts, conflicting feelings battled in Dumbledore's mind. He hoped that the Potter boy was alive somewhere, but wasn't the child better off dead if _he_ had taken him? Wouldn't it be better for both the young boy and the wizarding world if the house had been blown away with Harry Potter still inside? Dumbledore knew that he would not find the answer to these questions by thinking any further on the matter, so he pushed them from his mind. So many things had yet to be done...

* * *

_**The Daily Prophet**_

_He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named Defeated!_

_1 November, 1981__  
_

_Last evening, October 31, You-Know-Who invaded Godric's Hollow, residence of the Potter family. Protected under the Fidelus charm, Sirius Black betrayed the Potters to the Dark Lord and allowed him entrance. Little is known about the exact events, but nothing is left of Godric's Hollow now but a large crater. Some speculate that, upon realizing the Dark Lord had invaded their home, James and Lily Potter sacrificed their lives, and the life of their one year old son, to destroy him by activating an ancient self destruction spell that had been on Godric's Hollow. Powered by their sacrifices, the spell disintegrated the Dark Lord._

_The Minister has announced that James Potter and Lily Potter are both to receive Order of Merlin Third Class. Their burial is scheduled for tomorrow at the now historic site of Godric's Hollow. All who would like to honor the Potter family may attend._

* * *

A/N: That's it for now. The next chapter will pick up 15 years later, where we'll see what Harry's up to and what he's like. Thanks for reading. :) 


	2. Chapter 2

Harry stood in front of the great fortress that was Azkaban prison. The sky was dark, moonlight illuminating the two menacing dementors that stood guard outside the gate. The black cloaks that covered them whipped in the wind, revealing hints of the shriveled and deformed bodies that Harry had always assumed lay beneath. Harry tore his gaze away from the dementors and looked at his watch. Reginald was late.

With no noticeable noise, Harry felt the presence of his companion appear to his right. He looked up and shot a small smile at the tall, haggard figure that stood next to him. The man's grey beard and wrinkled face gave him the appearance of a tired elderly man, but his piercing blue eyes and aura of power suggested otherwise. Harry tapped his watch, "You're late."

Reginald ignored Harry's comment as he viewed the prison in distaste. "You have 8 minutes until I tire and disapparate. Don't waste time indulging in your twisted fantasies of revenge."

Harry shot an annoyed look at Reginald, "Whatever, _old man_."

With that, Harry pulled his cloak tightly around him and began walking towards the entrance of Azkaban. Faintly, he heard Reginald begin chanting an unknown incantation behind him. As Harry approached the floating Dementors at the gate, he didn't feel the familiar dreadful feeling that overtook him in their presence. They made no move to stop him as he blasted open the gate and proceeded into the prison.

* * *

Sirius Black was woken from his sleep by an odd sensation sweeping through his body. He shakily stood from the lumpy cot in his small cell and attempted to place the foreign feeling. It was so..._warm_. It took him a moment to realize that he was feeling the lack of a dementor feeding on him. His eyes shot to the two dementors that were constantly positioned outside his cell. They were there, as usual, but he didn't feel them. He cautiously approached the bars at the front of the cell and inspected the dementors. They were floating there, but they made no movements whatsoever. It was as if they were asleep, or in a trance. 

Sirius reached an arm out through the rusted bars to touch a dementor, but before it got there a cold hand grasped his wrist and twisted it roughly. "Argghh..." he groaned in pain as he dropped to his knees, snatching his arm back from the icy grip. He looked up to spot his attacker, and was surprised to see a young boy in a black cloak standing before him. The boy had a lithe frame, with unruly brown hair and blue eyes on pale skin. "Who the hell are you?" Sirius spit out, cradling his soar arm to his chest. The boy knelt down so that they were face to face on either side of the bars, and he began to..._change_. His hair shifted from brown to midnight black, his eyes changed from blue to emerald green, and a thin lightning bolt shaped scar appeared on his forehead, in sharp contrast to his pale skin. _He's a metamorphmagus?_ Sirius stared ahead in shock as his mind pieced together who this person was. "What the fuck...Harry? Are you Harry Potter?"

"Yes," the boy answered simply, in a soft voice. "I'm here to kill you." The boy cocked his head, as if studying him. The boy's demeanor was strange for a person preparing to commit murder, but Sirius didn't doubt for a second that he was serious. If anything, the way the boy looked as if he were simply conducting a mild potions experiment was even more intimidating than any amount of anger or twisted laughter that a Death Eater would display.

As he processed this development, Sirius's eyes shot wide open and he grasped the bars infront of him, pressing his face up against them. "Harry, listen, you've got to believe me," he rasped out frantically, "It was Peter, it wasn't me. We switched places, Harry, we switched secret keepers. I would never have betrayed James..."

The boy frowned slightly and leaned so that his head was directly in front of Sirius's, "Look in to my eyes," he said in the same calm voice. Sirius, mind racing, stared directly in to the emerald pools in front of him. Moments passed, and then his vision suddenly blacked out, and he was no longer in Azkaban.

_"Will you do it, Peter?" came James's voice. Sirius was standing next to him in the warm living room of Godric's Hollow, and they were both staring at the shivering form of Peter Pettigrew, who stood infront of the fire he had stepped out of moments ago. "Sirius is going in to hiding as well some time soon. No one will suspect you, Peter."_

_Peter Pettigrew looked at James, and then Sirius, fear flashing in his eyes. "Of-of course, James. It's an h-honor..." he trailed off, turning his gaze back down to the floor._

_James nodded and looked to Sirius. "We'll do it immediately." he said, looking Sirius directly in the eyes, and then flashed a small smile, "I'll see you soon."_

_Sirius smiled back and pulled James in to a warm hug before disapparating. That was the last time he saw James Potter._

Sirius saw black, and then he was once again staring into the emerald eyes of Harry Potter. Harry's brows were now furrowed slightly, and his gaze had increased in intensity. The boy abruptly stood and smoothly drew a wand from his sleeve with practiced ease. He pointed the wand at Sirius, and began a broad sweeping movement. Sirius backed away from the bars on instinct and closed his eyes, preparing for the worst.

A moment passed, and then another, and Sirius finally reopened his eyes. He gasped as he saw that the gate to his cell was now open, and Harry Potter stood before him with a neutral expression on his face, a hand outstretched to help him up. Sirius looked at the hand wearily, memory of it's icy grip fresh in his mind. As if the memories of the hand had triggered the effect, Sirius began to feel cold seep back into him. But it wasn't the boy, Sirius realized, it was the Dementors waking and continuing their feeding.

Sirius's gaze shot past Harry and to the Dementors, who were now entering the cell, one grasping it's cloak at the head and pulling it down. The other Dementor moved to close the cell door behind them, locking Sirius and Harry in with them. Looking back at Harry, the boy didn't seem concerned, he simply gave a small encouraging smile. Choosing the lesser of two evils, Sirius grabbed the chilled appendage before him. Walls of blue fire shot up from the ground around the two of them, blocking the Dementors from advancing closer. The blue flames licked gently at Sirius with a calming warmth, chasing the Dementor's cold from him, leaving behind only the deathly cold that seeped from Harry's hand. It seemed only a moment after the walls of fire had erected themselves, they dropped back down and out of existence.

Sirius blinked in surprise as he found himself no longer in the all too familiar cell he had populated for the past fifteen years, but instead in a large open field of grass. For the first time in fifteen years, he felt the wind against his face, and soft grass beneath his hands. He stood on shaky legs and looked to Harry, who was studying him with a blank expression on his face. Numbly, Sirius looked past Harry and noted that it was night time, and the moonlight brightly seeped through holes in the clouds. He was out of Azkaban. It all seemed so surreal to him.

"Do you know where Pettigrew is?" Harry finally broke him from his reverie.

"I...I think so," Sirius replied. Harry simply continued to look at him with that blank face, so he elaborated, "He's with a Weasley boy posing as his pet rat in animagus form. Or, he was three years ago."

"The Dark Lord was resurrected two years ago." Harry informed him, frowning now.

"Oh..." Sirius faltered, "But I don't think Peter would go to him. He's most likely stayed with the Weasley boy where it's safe."

"Do you know where the Weasley boy is?"

"Well, no, but he's not of age yet, he'll be at Hogwarts most likely."

Harry nodded thoughtfully and then looked up to the sky. Sirius followed his gaze and spotted a red and black bird circling above them. The bird descended and landed lightly on Harry's shoulder. Only then did Sirius realize that it was a phoenix. Harry murmured something to the phoenix, stroking it softly. The phoenix gave the boy an affectionate nip on the ear in response and then disappeared in a flash of blue fire.

A minute passed in silence between the two, and then suddenly there was a tall, worn old man in a dark cloak standing at Harry's side. The man's blue eyes seemed to pierce straight into Sirius, and he grew dizzy looking into them. Sirius averted his eyes to Harry, but the man's presence still made him uncomfortable. There was an itch in his mind that told him something wasn't right.

"Potter Manor is located right in front of you," came the old man's gruff voice. Sirius reluctantly looked back to the man, but was distracted by a shimmering in the air behind him. Reality itself seemed to bend and twist in a swirl of color, and then a mansion rivaling the size of the largest Black estate was there. _Potter Manor?_ There wasn't any Potter manor. James had told him that it was destroyed long ago.

A weight landed on Sirius's shoulder, and he turned his head to see the phoenix there. The phoenix nipped at him in the same affectionate manner it had with Harry, and then took off and flew towards the mansion. Sirius noted that the cloaked old man had disappeared in the same fashion that he had arrived, and Harry still stood in front of him, now with a small smile on his face.

"Zhar likes you," Harry commented as he softly pushed Sirius towards the entrance of the mansion.

"Does that not happen a lot?" Sirius asked, watching the retreating form of the phoenix. The phoenix's brief presence had left a warmth similar to that of the blue flames that had transported him here.

Harry shrugged, "She likes me and she doesn't like Reginald, so I guess it happens half the time?" he grinned as they approached the large front doors of the mansion, "Welcome to Potter Manor. Congratulations, you're only the third person to see it in two-hundred years. Or five-hundred...or something. It's old."

Sirius gave a short laugh, the first in fifteen years, at that comment. The Harry joking with him now was such a drastic change from the cold boy that he had met in Azkaban. It was hard to believe that this light-hearted, friendly boy was planning to kill him just minutes ago. Sirius found himself forgetting that the two were the same, until his hand casually brushed against Harry's and he felt the death-like chill that seemed to emanate from him.

As the two entered the manor, Sirius noted that it very much resembled a pureblood home. Priceless artifacts and aged paintings decorated the large entrance hall. In accordance to pureblood tradition, the paintings were of former Potter's, and Sirius searched the walls looking for someone familiar. It would be nice to talk to James again...or maybe James's parents, those who had taken him in at his time of need. Sirius frowned when he didn't find them. In fact, he didn't recognize any of the people in the portraits. None of their features even resembled James or his parents.

"Looking for someone?" Harry's amused voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Yes, actually." Sirius said, turning to Harry. "Is your...your father here? Or maybe your grandparents?"

Harry raised an eyebrow, "Old, remember? You won't find anything more recent than four-hundred years ago. I think the most recent painting hung was there." Harry pointed to a blank spot on the wall that had black imprints of a painting frame on it, but the frame was no longer there. As Sirius looked closer, he saw scattered burn marks in the space, as if the painting had been lit on fire and allowed to burn before it was removed.

"Who was it?" Sirius continued to study the blank space on the wall.

Harry gave a strange lopsided smile, "No idea. I think it caught fire or something, and the other paintings definitely aren't telling."

From the look on Harry's face, he _did_ know who it was, but Sirius was distracted by a new revelation, "Why don't any of the paintings move?" _That_ definitely wasn't pureblood tradition. It wasn't even heard of. It would be considered highly insulting having muggle paintings of purebloods.

"Reginald says they kept yelling at him, so he- um...actually, I have no idea what he did. He 'froze' them I suppose." Harry said. This struck Sirius as odd, as he had never heard anything of the kind happening before, but he had too many questions on his mind to ask Harry to elaborate.

"How did you end up here? James told me this place was destroyed by a dark wizard."

"Reginald brought me here the night my parents died. I've never asked how he came to live here." Harry shrugged, "Come on, lets find a room for you to stay in while you're here."

"I''m- I'm staying here?" Sirius stammered, cautiously following Harry up a large staircase.

"Well, everyone but me thinks you're a convicted murderer who betrayed his best friend. Do you have some place else to go? A meeting at the ministry maybe?" Harry seemed amused, as though it were obvious that Sirius would be staying.

"Well, no..."

"Good! Then you'll stay here the rest of the week." Harry smiled at him, pushing him into what appeared to be a guest room.

"The rest of the week?" Sirius answered, confused.

"Of course. After that I'm off to Hogwarts, and you'll have to come with me. I suppose you could stay in my trunk..." Harry cocked his head, thinking.

"In your _trunk_? Why am I going to Hogwarts in the first place?" Sirius took a seat on the plush bed in the center of the room.

"I've been in hiding for fifteen years. It's time I attend school." Harry winked, looking around the guest room in interest, as if he had never seen it before. Which, with the size of the manor, was quite possible.

"Oh...okay." Sirius murmured as he tried to absorb this new information. "Why are you in hiding? And why am _I _going with you?"

Harry turned around and leaned against the wall, giving a small shrug, "The entire wizarding world believes me to be dead, revealing myself would only earn me more enemies. As for your other question, you're much more familiar with Hogwarts than I am, and you can help me trap Pettigrew. That won't be an easy task with Dumbledore there..." Harry trailed off thoughtfully.

Sirius allowed Harry to drift off, taking the time to slow down and think about what was happening. Things were moving so quickly. He was out of Azkaban, and now in a guest room at Potter Manor, a place that was destroyed years ago. He was with Harry Potter, James's son who had died fifteen years ago with his parents, as well as an old man who's presence left Sirius with a strong sense of foreboding.

Harry seemed to sense his discomfort. He approached the bed slowly and took a seat next to Sirius. "I know this must be hard for you. The last time you've seen the outside of that prison was at the end of a war, and now another is beginning." Harry paused, looking Sirius directly in the eye. "Come to Hogwarts with me. We'll kill Pettigrew...you can have your _life_ back."

For some reason, that thought had never occurred to Sirius. He had given up hope of ever leaving that prison. Now, though, now he could have a life again. James was gone, but wasn't Remus still alive? He would have to check. He had always told himself that if he ever escaped Azkaban, the first thing he would do after killing Peter would be to see Remus again.

Sirius suddenly realized he had drifted off, a habit he formed while in isolation at Azkaban. He looked up to answer Harry, but the boy was no longer there. Either Sirius had been so far gone that he hadn't noticed Harry walk out the door, or he had silently disapparated. Sirius sighed and lay back against the plush bed. He was already tired from all the walking he had done today. Sadly, it was the most exercise he'd had in a very long time. It wasn't long before he drifted off in to a deep sleep, the best he had in fifteen years.

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A/N: I'd just like to thank the people that reviewed, I really appreciate it! I see why authors are always reminding readers to review now- more people have this story on alert than I got reviews! Even if you don't have anything special to say, every author likes hearing that their work is appreciated. If you DO have something special to say, I'd love to hear it! Comments, corrections, suggestions, and ideas are always welcome. Thanks for reading. :) 


	3. Chapter 3

Harry awoke early the next morning. He sat up in bed and turned to see Zhar sleeping peacefully perched on his headboard, her head resting under a soft red wing. As he pushed himself off his bed and padded towards the bathroom for a shower, the events of the day before came back to him. Oddly enough, it was exciting having Sirius Black stay at the manor. Harry had spent so long in the old mansion with just Reginald and Zhar for company. It would be nice to have another person around.

Harry quickly stripped and stepped in to the shower, throwing the water on and grabbing the soap. Someone had told him once that showers were relaxing, but he had never thought so. He supposed the soothing part was the warm water. Harry had read that vampires were constantly 'cold', but he never really knew what it meant. Turned vampires said that they lived a half-life, never being able to feel warmth. Harry was a born vampire, though. The concept of temperature was lost on him. In his younger years he had once asked Reginald to describe it to him, but the weathered old man had told him that he couldn't. Harry understood now that it was impossible to describe a sense, but as a young boy that answer had been like a rejection. Like he was missing out on something huge that everyone else in the world was in on.

Harry finished his shower quickly and stepped out of the bathroom, noticing that Zhar was now gone. It was strange that she was, as she rarely strayed out of line of sight to Harry. Even when he attended muggle school, she had sat in the back of the classroom, watching over him. If muggles could see magical animals it would have been a serious problem, but luckily the teacher had simply seemed baffled about how bird droppings continued to get in her classroom.

Harry dressed and left his room, heading one door over to where he had left Sirius the night before. As he opened the door and spotted the man coming out of the bathroom in only a towel, he wondered if he should have knocked. Reginald had always been in the habit of locking doors when he wanted privacy, so Harry wasn't accustomed to asking permission before he entered a room. As he took in the sight of Sirius, he strongly wished that he had knocked. The man seemed half starved. Yellowed skin stretched tightly over his weak frame exposed every rib on his chest. If he had ever had muscles, he definitely didn't now. He seemed, quite literally, just skin and bones. Harry shuddered thinking what he must have looked like before he showered.

"Good morning Sirius!" Harry covered his distaste with a cheerful greeting. Sirius seemed slightly embarrassed.

"Harry...you're up early." The man responded awkwardly, moving to sit on the bed.

"Well, we've got a lot to do today. Heading to Diagon Alley to get my school supplies." Harry responded, smiling. "We should probably get you some robes, as well. I'm glad to see that you found the shower. I didn't want to be forced to inform you of how much you reeked. I attempt to avoid awkward situations whenever possible."

Sirius laughed weakly at Harry's forwardness. He seemed still in a daze from the shock of leaving Azkaban so abruptly, but Harry thought that he was warming up to him.

"Now, I should probably get you some robes to wear out today. You'll have to borrow some of Reginald's, so you have a choice of black with grey trim, or black with black-" Harry was cut off by a bright flash of blue fire in the center of the room that signaled Zhar's entrance. The bird flew to Sirius and landed on his shoulder, dropping heavy black robes on his lap. "Well, looks like Zhar has decided for you."

Sirius smiled at the phoenix and picked up the robes, holding them out in front of him. Out of them fell what appeared to be a stack of folded parchment. Sirius picked up the parchment curiously and his smile immediately faded, his eyes going wide. Harry approached Sirius and bent his head to read the parchment upside down. It was a copy of The Daily Prophet, and a large picture of Sirius was on the front page. The picture was obviously of him when he was first taken in to custody fifteen years ago, as he looked much younger and healthier. Sirius was actually quite a good looking man before his stay in Azkaban, it seemed. It made his present appearance seem even worse.

Sirius numbly handed Harry the paper and he turned it around to read it. The headline read 'DEATH EATER BLACK ESCAPES AZKABAN: WORK OF THE DARK LORD?" Harry skimmed the short article that had some how managed to take up the entire front page and found nothing surprising. It spun the story to make it look as if this was an act of the Dark Lord, freeing his second in command. People would probably believe the story, despite it's obvious flaws. As if Voldemort would go through the trouble of infiltrating Azkaban and then free only one of his imprisoned Death Eaters. He would probably take the Dementors with him as well, Harry mused. Reginald had recently uncovered that Voldemort had at least a few Dementors on his side already.

"Where the hell did you get a newspaper? You don't have any money." Harry raised an eyebrow at Zhar, who still stood perched on Sirius's shoulder. The bird made an indignant noise and turned away. Harry laughed and turned back to Sirius, "You're not a metamorphmagus, are you Sirius?"

"No," Sirius shook his head. The man seemed to be slightly shocked that he was now considered the most dangerous Death Eater alive, and the entire wizarding world was looking for him.

"Right, we'll have to see Reginald about getting you a proper disguise then. Can't have you going to Diagon Alley looking like yourself with the entire wizarding world on the lookout for you."

* * *

Twenty minutes later found Harry and Sirius standing in front of one of the many fireplaces in Potter Manor. The two had sought out Reginald, and Sirius was now glamoured to have tanned skin, brown hair, and hazel eyes. Sirius had received the same foreboding feeling from Reginald as before, although the man didn't seem aggressive towards him. 

"Okay, we've got a couple places to go today, but we'll start with Diagon Alley." Harry said cheerfully, reaching for the pot of floo powder on the mantle. The boy's hair was now blood red and his eyes were brown. Harry grabbed some floo powder for himself, and then turned to offer the small pot to Sirius. Sirius reached in for some powder, but before he could grasp any Harry's hand abruptly began to shake violently. The pot fell to the ground and hit the black marble with a reverberating crash, breaking and spreading floo powder everywhere. Harry's eyes were now wide, and he clutched his stomach tightly with both arms, falling to his knees. His entire body was shaking slightly, as if he were having a seizure.

"Harry?" Sirius dropped down next to him, unsure of what to do. Zhar burst into appearance on the mantle of the fire place, but she made no move to approach Harry. After a few seconds, though, Harry's body ceased shaking. It appeared that whatever had taken hold of him had passed. He maintained his position with his arms hugging his stomach for a few moments, taking in shaky breaths.

"Sorry about that," Harry finally spoke in a falsely cheerful voice. Harry stood and helped Sirius up. He drew his wand and gave it a small wave, and the pot of floo powder repaired itself. The floo powder scattered along the floor all began to float off the marble ground, high in to the air around them, and then it all shot back into the pot. The pot flew to Harry's waiting hand, and he offered it to Sirius again.

"What just happened, Harry?" Sirius asked. He wearily reached towards the pot again, this time successfully grabbing a small handful of powder.

"Oh, slight stomach ache. I'm hungry, as I'm sure you are as well." Harry replied, smiling. "I'm afraid we'll have to change our destination, though. I need to pick something up in Knockturn Alley. I had planned on going later, but I think it would be best if we did it now. After that we can find a buffet somewhere, you look starved."

"I am," Sirius grinned weakly, "Can't wait to get some real food."

"Yeah, real food." Harry said with a strange smile. He then turned and tossed the floo powder in the fire, "Knockturn Alley!"

Sirius quickly moved after him, tossing his own powder in and calling out his destination. He wasn't met with the familiar inside of the floo system, though. There were no other doors to exit, and he just seemed to be falling through green fire with no end. Harry was no where to be seen amongst the flames, and for a moment Sirius feared that he might be lost, falling through flames forever. Then he looked down and spotted what appeared to be the end of 'the line'. It was a wall made up purely of hot red flames woven together, and Sirius was falling straight towards it. He stared down at it as he approached. The wall looked solid, but there was nothing he could do to avoid it. He shut his eyes, first feeling the heat of the red flames on his legs, and then his chest, and then his face, and then it was gone. Sirius looked up in astonishment, but the wall was no where to be seen amongst the green flame above him. He viewed this new area and found doors surrounding him, woven in to the flames. He had entered the floo system he was familiar with.

A moment later Sirius stumbled out of a small, cramped fireplace and into Knockturn Alley. Cold hands caught him, and Sirius looked up to see Harry's warm brown eyes. "Fun, isn't it? We only have a one-way floo connection, and it's not exactly 'on file'. I probably should have warned you. Sorry."

"It s'alright" Sirius slurred, slightly dizzy from his trip. He brushed the soot off his robes and followed Harry down the dingy street that was Knockturn Alley. Harry didn't seem to take notice as they passed all the strange things that one could only find in Knockturn Alley. A hag with a large platter full of shrunken heads, a shop that buys and trades toe nails, a book store with a single severed hand in the display window, and then a rival nail store that sold finger nails. Harry's gaze stayed straight forward, as did all other lone wizards they passed. There seemed to be an unspoken mind-your-own-business rule.

Harry abruptly stopped and Sirius distractedly ran straight in to the slim boy. It was like hitting a brick wall. Sirius stumbled back at the sudden impact and fell to the ground. Harry turned to help him with an amused smile, asking if he was okay. Sirius gave a short nod that Harry seemed to accept as an answer, because he turned to look at a shadowed area on the wall of the alley. On closer inspection, Sirius found that there was actually a small door there. Above the door hung a small wooden sign that may have had something written on it at one time, but was now covered with a red substance that was disgustingly similar to dried blood. Harry continued on straight through the door, and, against his better judgment, Sirius followed him.

The store was small, extremely dusty, and completely bare. There was nothing inside but open space and a wooden counter in the back with a short pale man behind it. The man had stringy white hair and yellowed teeth that made him look similar to a hag, and Sirius began to wonder if he was even a man at all. As Sirius followed Harry up to the counter, the man's eyes flicked between the two of them, but he said nothing. Harry didn't seem put out in the slightest.

"Hello," he greeted cheerfully, leaning forward onto the dirty counter. Sirius expected him to continue, but Harry just stood there with a smile on his face. The man eyed Harry for a moment before reaching a hand under the counter and withdrawing a small brown paper bag. He placed the bag on the counter and pushed it to Harry. Harry unfolded the top of the small bag and looked down inside. "This is the correct amount? It doesn't look like much more than the usual."

"Aye, it's enough for you, half blood." the pale man responded in a low, scratchy voice. Sirius raised his eyebrows at the comment, but Harry didn't seem to take it as an insult.

"Right. I would like to enlarge it and take a look. May I use your back room?" Harry asked politely. If the man was insulted that Harry didn't trust him to deliver the correct 'amount' of what he was selling, he didn't show it. He simply gave a small nod followed by a disgruntled look when Harry slid over the counter instead of using the small latched door. "I'll be just a moment, Sirius." Harry called as he went through the door behind the counter, closing it behind him with a soft click.

Sirius was left alone in the bare, dusty shop. At first he attempted to avert his eyes from the short, ugly clerk behind the counter, but there wasn't much else to look at. He stared at a particularly dusty corner of the shop for a moment before chancing a glance back at the man. The clerk was now wearing a heavy cloak. He withdrew a strange, twisted key from his pocket that seemed to be carved from ivory and walked around the counter towards Sirius. Sirius flinched slightly as the man approached, but the clerk stopped a few yards away and turned towards the back door that Harry had disapeared through, staring at it blankly.

A few awkward minutes passed that way, the two of them standing there, waiting. The clerk didn't move in the slightest the entire time, he simply continued to stare at the door. Sirius was deciding if it would be less uncomfortable to stay and wait for Harry here with the clerk, or out in Knockturn Alley, when the door finally opened. Harry stepped out, stowing the brown paper bag safely in his robes. He smiled as he approached the pair, nodded to the man silently, and gave Sirius a soft push towards the door.

As they emerged from the store Sirius considered asking Harry what he had purchased, but decided against it. The boy was very forward about things, and if he was willing to tell Sirius what he was buying, he most definitely would have said something already. Harry was walking in front of him now in the same fashion that they had traveled through the alley before. As they strode in the direction of Diagon Alley, Sirius inconspicuously took a look behind him. The ugly little clerk had followed them out of the store and was now locking the door with that strange key. A moment later Sirius heard the sharp crack of the man disapparating.

Five minutes later found the two of them entering Diagon Alley. Harry slowed his pace slightly and fell in to step beside Sirius. "Where do you want to eat?"

Sirius abruptly became aware of how hungry he was, but he feigned indifference. "Where ever you want to go is fine with me." he responded with a shrug.

Judging by Harry's grin, he had seen straight through him, but the boy didn't comment on it. He simply steered Sirius into a buffet style restaurant, smiling brightly at the hostess and requesting a table as close as possible to the buffet. Distracted by the warm aroma of food, Sirius vaguely noted that the young girl seemed quite taken with Harry as she led them to a spot directly across from the long table that housed the buffet.

* * *

AN: Thanks for reading! Please hit the review button below and tell me what you think! If I get more reviews for this chapter than there are people on the alert list for this story, I'll make next update twice as long as the usual. :) 

Also, I've seen other stories where readers were allowed to vote on what would happen in the next chapter. I have a pretty good idea of how everything will happen in this story, but I've always thought that letting the readers vote on things was pretty cool. So, there are a few new characters that have yet to be introduced to the story. I thought it would be cool allowing readers to decide on names, since those have no direct influence on the plot. If this goes well, I have some ideas on other things that readers can decide, but we'll start with this for now.

If the next chapter is twice as long as usual (review!), a new character will appear in the second half. I have a name for him, but maybe you guys have some ideas as well. At the end of your review, put the best male bad-guy name you can come up with. It can be a first-name, or something like 'Voldemort', but it can only be one word. If yours is the best fit for the character, it will become a permanent fixture in the story! All I ask is that you give me some feedback in your review as well, don't just put a name.

Thanks again for reading!


	4. Chapter 4

Harry watched amused as Sirius finished his sixth plate of food. The man emptied plates quickly, and that hostess girl was making frequent stops at the table to ask if they 'need anything, anything at all.' Harry himself wasn't hungry in the slightest now, but he had gotten a plate so that Sirius wouldn't feel as if they had come to the restaurant just for him. They had, of course, but the man still seemed slightly nervous around Harry. He supposed that being treated to an early brunch by a near stranger who had almost killed you the day before would be a bit uncomfortable.

"Done, are you?" Harry grinned at Sirius, who hadn't gotten up for a seventh plate. From the look on his face, Harry suspected that Sirius was blushing in embarrassment under the glamour.

"Err, yeah. I'm done." Sirius replied, smiling slightly.

"Excellent. I need to get my school supplies, so next stop is-" Harry stopped and pulled the list of required school materials from his pocket. It didn't seem to list shops where the supplies could be purchased, and Harry wasn't nearly as familiar with Diagon Alley as he was with Knockturn. "-a store that sells books!" he finished. Harry stood and dropped some galleons on the table before making towards the exit.

"That'll be Flourish and Blotts," Sirius said with an amused grin as they left the restaurant.

"Right. So we'll just go..." Harry trailed off, looking both ways down the street.

"That way," Sirius offered, pointing left.

"That way it is!" Harry responded, and the two set out down the street. Things once again went silent between the two, so Harry made an attempt at conversation. "So...what's Hogwarts like?"

"Such a complicated question..." Sirius responded, but he seemed pleased to be asked. He launched in to a full description of Hogwarts, animatedly telling Harry about pranks that he and the 'Marauders' had played at each location. He told Harry about the four houses, the teachers, the evil caretaker, Filch, and anything else that popped in to his head. He was the most lively Harry had ever seen him. He would sometimes mention something that made him think of Harry's parents and he soured, only to brighten up again a moment later.

Harry found his stories and descriptions quite interesting. It seemed that Hogwarts was much more complicated than he had assumed. He would have to extract as much information from Sirius as possible. He didn't want to be caught out of his element when he arrived at the school in less than a week. He was particularly interested in the map that Sirius mentioned he and the other Marauders created in their last year at Hogwarts. A map that showed where every person in the school was would be most valuable. Then a thought occurred to him and he cut Sirius off.

"Wait, you say the map shows every person's name?" Harry asked slowly, furrowing his brow slightly.

"Well, yes. We managed to catch a Slytherin using Polyjuice with it once. It was brilliant." Sirius grinned devilishly. That answer very much disturbed Harry, though.

"What about my name? Will it show my true name as well?"

Sirius frowned, "Yes, I suppose it would. And mine as well if I enter Hogwarts grounds."

"Is there a way to make us immune to the map's magic?" Harry questioned. His mind was racing. If someone had a map like that it may very well reveal him at an inopportune moment.

"No, the map is tied with Hogwarts's magic. It has nothing to do with yours." Sirius responded. He was looking very put out now. "If someone has the map, there's no way around it."

"I take it that means you don't know where it is?"

"Filch confiscated it." Sirius replied thoughtfully. "I don't think he ever knew what it was, but he locked it away in his office with all that other crap he's taken. If Filch is still working at Hogwarts, I bet it's still with him."

"Nothing we can do about it, I suppose. I'll get it out of Filch's office next week." Harry said, frowning. It was disconcerting thinking that he could be caught and he could do nothing to stop it. "Do you think-" Harry began, but something stole his attention. Harry looked around Sirius to read the sign on the shop they were passing. _Ah, exotic animals. That explains it._

"Harry?" Sirius questioned, following his gaze to the store.

A sudden idea struck Harry, and he turned to look up at Sirius. "Want to see something cool?" he grinned.

Sirius looked slightly weary, but nodded his head and cautiously followed Harry into the store.

Harry followed the sounds that had caught his attention straight to the back of the shop. Small cages lined walls on all three sides of him here, each one holding multiple snakes. Harry shot Sirius a wicked grin and turned his focus to a small brown snake to his left. "Hello," Harry said. He could tell by Sirius's wide eyes that he had successfully spoken in parseltongue.

Immediately, every snake in the vicinity responded with a hissed greeting. The snakes seemed excited to have a parseltongue in their midst. Some small fights even began breaking out as the serpents all competed for Harry's attention. It was a nice feeling to be wanted, Harry decided, even if they were all snakes. Harry stood there a moment, watching chaos break out all around him. Then a lowed hiss was issued and the snakes' attention was pulled away from Harry, all of them falling silent.

Harry raised his eyebrows in surprise. From what he could tell, the hiss hadn't even been a word. Harry followed the gaze of every snake in the room to a shadowed corner in the very back. Between the shelves, where the walls met, Harry peered down to find a single glass cage on the floor, isolated from the others. Harry knelt in front of the cage and spotted a lone white snake coiled in the center. The snake was thin and only a couple feet long. It appeared to be sleeping. Harry wondered why he hadn't noticed it before.

"Harry, maybe you shouldn't get so close to there." Harry heard Sirius's weary voice from behind him. Sirius couldn't have understood what the snakes had been saying, but he seemed to understand that this snake was dangerous.

"Just a minute, Sirius." Harry responded distractedly. Harry hadn't been speaking loudly, but the white snake gave a small hiss and opened it's eyes to stare up at him.

"_So you're the one that caused that troublesome noise earlier_," the snake hissed out lazily. It seemed mildly irritated.

"_How did you silence the other snakes?_" Harry interestedly questioned it.

"_Straight to the point, aren't you?_"the snake responded. It viewed Harry for a moment as if seizing him up, and then hissed out an answer. "_They fear me_."

Harry rolled his eyes, "_Yes, but why do they fear-_"

"Can I help you, _sir_?" an angry voice came from directly behind Harry. He whirled around and stood up, surprised that he hadn't heard anyone approach. The person was a short middle-aged woman with greying hair and a scowl on her face. Harry wondered if she had heard him speaking parseltongue. He hated using memory charms, they were so easy to break if one didn't care about the person's sanity.

"Yes, I would like to buy this snake." Harry smiled, motioning towards the glass case that contained the ivory colored serpent.

"That snake is not for sale to you, boy." the woman snarled.

Harry frowned, "Why is that?"

The woman eyed him for a moment and took a step closer, "This snake is priceless, one of a kind."

"Since when has individuality been valued among snakes?" Harry raised an eyebrow.

"That's not what I meant, boy." she scowled in response. "Not only is this creature highly poisonous, but it has the ability to resize itself and constrict."

"Hate to break it to you, but other snakes can do that as well."

The woman gave a nasty smile, flashing yellowed teeth, and took a step closer. Harry stifled the urge to pinch his nose shut at the bad breath. "Yes, maybe, but combine the ability to become extremely large with this snake's other...properties, and it's worth more than you could ever comprehend."

Harry nodded at her, "Right. So how much do you want for it?"

"_That snake is not for sale!_" the woman snarled furiously, grabbing the front of Harry's robes.

"Okay, okay, calm down, lady." Harry pushed her off and shuffled around her towards the exit. "Lets go," Harry looked to Sirius, "We'll come back next week when she's off her period..."

"_Do not return here ever again!_" the woman screamed hysterically at their backs. Every customer in the store was now watching the argument as if it were a tennis match, their attention bouncing back and forth between the two parties. Harry just continued out the exit, the woman shouting profanities and threats along the way.

"Maybe you shouldn't have made that comment about her period," Sirius said as they left the shop, looking over his shoulder wearily.

"What? You think maybe she was pregnant? That would explain it..." Harry replied thoughtfully.

"I'm serious, Harry. We shouldn't be drawing so much attention to ourselves." Sirius looked increasingly anxious now, his eyes darting from person to person on the street.

"Okay," Harry sighed, "Don't have a panic attack in Diagon Alley, that may turn some heads. I'll send you back to the manor and finish up shopping myself."

Sirius nodded thankfully as Harry guided him in to an abandoned alley.

"Zhar!" Harry called out loudly, "Get out here! Damn stalker." The phoenix in question flew down from atop a near by building and landed softly on Sirius's shoulder, averting his gaze from Harry in indignance. Harry rolled his eyes, "Take Sirius back to the manor, would you? I'll be along in a couple hours."

Zhar gave Harry an angry look, and then the two disappeared in a bright flash of blue flame. Harry sighed, pulled the school supply list out of his pocket, and continued down Diagon Alley in the direction that he and Sirius had been walking. It was after noon now, and more children were in the alley shopping for school supplies. Harry tried to make himself as inconspicuous as possible. It wouldn't be good if someone connected him with the boy that would show up at Hogwarts next week, especially if they had seen where he stopped in Knockturn Alley earlier. Harry would have known if someone had been following him in Knockturn Alley, but one thing he had learned while living with Reginald was that you should always prepare for the worst.

After a few more minutes of walking along the side of the street, Harry spotted Flourish and Blotts. It was a large shop, but it obviously wasn't equipped to deal with the school year rush. There was a crowded line of students and parents leading all the way out the door. Harry sighed as he approached the store and took his place at the end of the line, behind a large heavy set boy. Harry tuned out the boisterous voices excitedly discussing their summer break and kept his face down to avoid any of the students' eyes. This worked marvelously for a few seconds, until one nearby voice amongst the crowd caught Harry's attention.

"Remember to get two of all your books, Goyle." Harry deftly noticed the large boy in front of him nod his head, and then the voice came again. "I _told_ you why, Pansy. The funeral is today. I swear, you have the attention span of a two year old child."

Harry resisted the foreign urge to look around the boy in front of him and find the source of that voice, turning his eyes to the Flourish and Blotts display window instead. The window was full of large tombs with flashy, expensive covers. Harry scanned the assorted books, and his eyes rested on one particularly large book with a full silver cover. A word that Harry faintly recognized was reflected on the cover. _Olivander's_. Harry turned to the source of the reflection; a sign hanging above a small shop across the street. Upon seeing the shop, the word clicked in Harry's mind. He abandoned the line and strode towards the store's entrance, an idea forming in his head.

Upon entry Harry found that the door was dark and cool. He made his way past a large shaky stack of wand boxes and found a small, abandoned counter. Harry pushed the bell on the counter, and a moment later a pale, thin man appeared.

"May I help you?" the man that Harry assumed was Olivander questioned politely.

"Yes," Harry said, searching for the correct words to use in response. "Many years ago, a little over a decade now, a friend of mine requested that you craft a wand for him. He supplied you with the necessary materials for two wands, and you were allowed to keep the second wand as payment. Do you know what I speak of?"

The man's eyes widened slightly and he gave a short nod, looking at Harry with increased interest.

"If you haven't sold that wand, I would very much like to buy it from you." Harry pulled a small leather pouch of coins from his pocket and placed it on the counter.

Olivander stared at Harry for a moment longer, and then gave another small nod. "No, I haven't yet sold that particular wand."

* * *

A/N: Sorry that this chapter is kind of short, but I didn't want to cut it off at an awkward moment. This isn't a double post (sigh) so the character I mentioned in my last note won't appear until the next update. There have been some really good name ideas so far, but none that I think really captures the spirit of the character. I'd give a better description, but I would hate to ruin the surprise for you all. So if you have any other names, it's not too late, don't be afraid to put 'em up there. 

Thanks for reading, and don't forget to review!


	5. Chapter 5

Sirius sat on the plush bed in his guest room at Potter Manor, idly tapping the tip of his wand to his lips. Harry had given it to him when he returned from Diagon Alley three days earlier. The wand buzzed with power in Sirius's hand, a much better fit for him than his old wand ever had been. Harry had simply smiled and shrugged his shoulders when asked where he had gotten it. 'The wand chooses the wizard' is the rule that Sirius had always been told, but Harry had bought this wand without Sirius's presence. He said that to pay him back Sirius could tell him more about Hogwarts. So Sirius had spent the majority of two days telling Harry about the school he would be attending. Then he spent another day answering many seemingly useless questions that Harry had compiled, such as 'What areas of the school have no portraits?'

Sirius jumped as the loud bang of his bedroom door being knocked off it's hinges broke him from his reverie. The door fell to the ground, revealing a large black trunk floating in the door way. It hovered forward a few yards and then abruptly fell to the floor with a reverberating bang. Sirius stared at it a moment, and then Harry walked in.

"Oh, sorry about that." the boy said, his eyes moving from the splintered door to the black trunk, and then to Sirius with an apologetic look. "I forgot that trunks can't open doors." Harry shrugged, slipping his wand from his sleeve and giving it a small wave to repair the door. He walked forward a few steps and looked down at the trunk, then back to Sirius. "Well? Get over here, I have to show you this!"

Sirius gave the boy a confused look, but rolled off the bed and walked to stand next to Harry. "What's this?"

"It's my trunk, of course." Harry rolled his eyes. "You aren't exactly welcome at Hogwarts, so you'll have to stay in here. Hopefully we'll catch Pettigrew fairly quick. It can get slightly boring staying in there twenty-four hours a day."

Sirius eyed Harry, then reached down and unlatched the trunk. The lid popped open slightly, and Sirius kicked it up the rest of the way. The trunk was full to the brim with books, stacks of clothes, blank parchment, loose quills, and a few other various items. "So where am I staying? Between _Transfiguration Volume 6_ and _The_ _Ancient Runes Encyclopedia_?"

Harry snorted, pushing the lid down and latching it shut. He placed his right hand on top of the trunk, fingers spread. Nothing happened for a moment, and then Harry's hand ignited in crackling blue flames, the same that Sirius now connected with Zhar. The flames slipped off of Harry's hand like liquid, strands slithering their way along the trunk in all directions. Soon the entire trunk was coated lightly with the fire, leaving none of the black leather surface exposed. The flames then seemed to sink in to the trunk, as if it were absorbing them. A moment later all that remained of the fire was a dim blue light on the latch, glowing eerily. Harry looked to Sirius and took a step back, motioning him to open it.

Sirius stepped up and wearily reached down for the latch. It glowed warmly on contact, and then faded as it was pulled up. Sirius kicked the lid open again, and this time he was met with darkness. No, not all darkness. There was something attached to the closest inside wall of the trunk. Sirius stared at it a moment, and then raised his eyebrows in realization. "A ladder?"

"Well, of course a ladder!" Harry exclaimed, slightly exasperated. "I was thinking of doing stairs, but I would bump my head on the way down. Then I thought maybe a pole I could slide down, but there's no where to attach the top, and it would be a pain to climb back up. So I used a ladder."

"Right. So I'm supposed to climb down there?" Sirius looked down in to the darkness doubtfully.

Harry rolled his eyes, "No, you can use the elevator." he said sarcastically.

"What's an elevator?"

"Just _go_!" Harry gave Sirius a push towards the trunk.

Sirius scowled at Harry, but turned towards the trunk none the less. Harry hadn't led him wrong yet, and Sirius owed it to him for breaking him out of Azkaban, even if his original attention had been to kill him. Sirius cautiously turned and lowered a leg down into the trunk, firmly planting it on a ladder rail before swinging the other leg over as well to begin his descent. He caught one last look of Harry rolling his eyes at Sirius's reluctance before his head was below the brim. It was almost pitch black, he could barely make out his hands in the dim light. A few moments of cautious climbing later Sirius hit the bottom and stood on soft ground. He looked up to see Harry's head hanging over the side of the ladder and took a step out into the darkness to give him room. As Harry lowered himself onto the ladder, he reached up and closed the lid of the trunk above him, plunging Sirius in to complete darkness. Sirius heard a short grinding sound, and then a loud _bang_ issued directly in front of him.

"You should try sliding down next time, it's much more fun." Harry said happily. Sirius could heard the smile in his voice. "So, how do you like it?"

"Like _what_?" Sirius said confusedly, "There's no light in here at all, I can't see a thing."

"Oh! Sorry about that, I forgot." Harry replied apologetically. Sirius faintly heard Harry draw his wand, and then light flooded the room.

Sirius blinked his eyes as they adjusted, and then let out a startled gasp. He didn't know what he had been expecting, but it certainly wasn't _this_. Sirius stood on plush red carpet in a rather large room. To his right there was a stone fire place built in to the wall. A polished red oak table was positioned in front of the fire, with a black leather couch and two large chairs centered around it to form a sitting area. Beyond the sitting area in the far right corner of the room was a small kitchenette with black tile floor, complete with stove and oven. Across from the kitchenette was an elegant polished dining table with four chairs around it. The room had a number of warm landscape paintings on the walls to finish off the decor.

"So, do you like it?" Harry grinned. "That door over there by the kitchen is the pantry. There's enough food in there to last you quite a while, just don't remove the preservation spells on anything you don't plan on eating. The door across from us is the bedroom, complete with connecting bath. There's a few sets of clothes in there for you."

"It's...wow, Harry, how did you do this? I've never seen space magic on this large a scale before." Sirius stared around numbly.

"That's nothing, check this out." Harry grabbed Sirius's arm and dragged him towards a door to the left. He pulled it opened and pushed Sirius through first, following closely behind him.

Sirius felt another surprised gasp escape his lips. He was in the front of what appeared to be a gigantic library. Large, tall rows of books were lined up before him. The aisles were so long that Sirius couldn't judge how far the room even went. Another shock ran through Sirius's system as he looked up and noticed a large square gap in the ceiling, making out railings around it and the top of a book shelf above them. It seemed that the library had a second level, almost as large as the first one. It was amazing that one person had a collection this big, it had to be at least as large as the library at Hogwarts, including the restricted section. Sirius turned around and noticed a long book shelf full of identical black tombs running down the wall behind him. He took a step closer and saw small labels on each of the bindings. They were reference books, apparently for the entire library.

"Harry," Sirius breathed, "Where did you get all these?"

"Ah, well about half of it are copies from the library in Potter manor. The other half are all that I managed to convince Reginald to let me copy from his personal collection, plus a few that I stole and copied anyways." Harry said, leaning against the wall behind him and admiring the library. "It took me years to do it all, and then another year researching and casting every protection charm known to man in each of the rooms around here. Even got Reginald to do a few. I don't even _want_ to know what will happen to someone who tries to cause trouble down here."

Sirius nodded vaguely, scanning the rather large collection of reference books. "You must have spent over half your life down here..."

"Not as much as you may think. Remember that charm I used to send the trunk to your room earlier? It came in quite handy. Now, come along." Harry grabbed Sirius's arm and pulled him out a near by door.

They entered a dark, cold room with hard stone floor. The room wasn't very big, but the walls were lined with what must have been hundreds of wooden cabinets. In the center of the room was a heavy stone table with several different sizes of cauldrons placed on it. Along with the cauldrons was a large black tomb that resembled a reference book from the library, plus a number of metallic tools that Sirius recognized from his many years of potions classes at Hogwarts.

"I don't know if you're any good at brewing, but you can use this place to make some potions if you get bored. The black book on the desk there has every potions ingredient and ready-made potion that I have. Just find whatever you need in the book, give it a tap with your wand, and the cabinet that contains that particular ingredient will light up and stay lit until it's opened. The potions section of the library is just outside the door if you need to look anything up." Harry was saying as he casually walked around the room, opening random cabinets.

"Okay..." Sirius nodded numbly. "Where does that door lead?" he pointed to a heavy metallic door on the opposite wall of the potions laboratory.

"Ah," Harry said, smiling slightly. "That room houses materials of...sensitive temperament. It's locked. For your own sake, don't try to break in there. I've no idea what Reginald cast on the door, but I'm sure it isn't pretty."

Sirius was slightly hurt that Harry didn't trust him, but he ignored it. Harry had known him for less than a week, and half the time Sirius had spent telling the boy about the numerous rules he had broken in his Hogwarts days. And after all, before his time spent in Azkaban, Sirius had been a different person. He probably _would_ have attempted to break in to that room.

"Well, that's about it.." Harry spoke up, leading Sirius out of the room and back towards the ladder. "We leave tomorrow morning, so get a _good_ night's sleep!"

* * *

"_Sirius!"_

Sirius jumped, violently woken from his sleep by harsh push on his shoulder. He sat up sharply and wiped the sleep out of his eyes. It was still dark out, the room lit only by stray beams of moonlight through the window. Harry was standing beside the bed, his cold hand still resting on Sirius's shoulder. He was wearing the same black cloak that he had worn the night Sirius first met him, in Azkaban. "Harry?" Sirius questioned cautiously.

"Finally!" Harry said, removing his hand and walking towards the closet. "You sleep like the dead, and we're late. Here...put this on." Harry tossed him a black robe from his temporary wardrobe.

"What's going on?" Sirius slowly stood and began pulling on the robe.

"I'll tell you when we get there. Just hurry, I'll be right back." Harry said distractedly and left the room.

Sirius's sleep addled brain was now processing that this probably wasn't anything good. What choice did he have, though? He finished dressing, remembering to grab the polished wand from the table beside his bed. He checked himself over and looked around the room to see if anything was forgotten.

"You're ready! Good." Harry walked back in to the room, his pace slightly faster than usual. Harry held a hand out to Sirius, which he reluctantly grasped. Sirius felt the now familiar warmth of the blue fire rising around him mixed with the cold emanating from Harry's hand, and then he was standing on a cobbled street. No, not a street, Sirius realized, but a small dirty alley. Sirius recognized it as the same one that Zhar had taken him from days earlier. Harry tugged on his arm as he led him towards the main street of Diagon Alley.

"Harry?" Sirius asked wearily, "Why are we here?"

"Isn't it obvious? The lady that owns this animal store is horrid, so we're busting that snake out." Harry replied, tugging him around the corner and in front of said store. Sirius looked around nervously, but Diagon Alley seemed completely abandoned.

"We're here to _steal_ a snake?"

"I like to think of it as vigilante justice..." Harry trailed off, staring at the shop thoughtfully. Sirius stayed back as Harry moved forward to inspect the entrance. He slipped his wand from his sleeve and lightly tapped the door. A faint silver wave that Sirius recognized as a silencing charm spread from the spot, covering the entire building and sinking in to the bricks. Harry backed away and stood beside Sirius, eyeing the building thoughtfully.

"How are we going to get in? Every door in Diagon Alley is linked on the same ward, there's no way it can be broken with all the doors closed." Sirius hissed in Harry's ear. This was madness. Ministry wizards would be here any moment to arrest them both.

"I'm trying to remember...when you enter the door here, what's on the inside right wall?" Harry asked, looking up at Sirius.

"Urgh, I don't know...hamsters and mice I think. We can't get in, lets just leave." Sirius nervously eyed the broad street. They could be seen at any time, and Sirius wasn't even glamoured.

"Yeah, sure, in a minute." Harry murmured, staring at the store thoughtfully. He seemed to come to a decision, because he drew his wand again and raised his arm. He brought it down with a quick slashing motion, pointing the wand at the building. A dim silver spell forcefully shot out of the tip and hit brick wall a few yards right of the door. The impact of the spell caused a large amount of dust to rise up and block Sirius's vision, but he heard nothing.

The two of them stood there a moment, and then the dust cleared. The spell had obliterated part of the wall, creating a large gaping hole in the brick. Harry gave a smile and motioned for Sirius to follow him in to the store. Sirius cautiously stepped through the hole, eyeing the bricks, broken glass and rubble that now littered the floor. Harry headed straight for the far corner in the snake section. Sirius wearily stood behind him, glancing nervously towards the street every few seconds. Someone _must_ have seen that.

Sirius watched Harry bend in front of the glass cage that contained the small ivory snake. The two had a hissed conversation, and then Harry drew his wand and tapped it lightly on the front of the cage. The front pane of glass mutely fell to the floor and silently shattered in to pieces, allowing Harry to reach in and pick the snake up. He dropped it in his robe pocket and turned back to Sirius. "Okay, lets get out of here..."

Sirius let out a breath. He hurriedly led the way out of the building, Harry walking quickly to catch up. They stepped through the hole in the wall and turned towards the small alley they had arrived at. _Maybe we can get away with this after all,_ Sirius thought as they rounded the corner into the alley. Harry's arm shot out in front of Sirius and stopped him from advancing further. Sirius sighed and turned to Harry questioningly, but the boy wasn't looking at him. He was standing stock still, his brows slightly furrowed in concentration. His eyes widened minutely, and blue walls of fire abruptly erupted around the two of them. Sirius heard a loud _bang_ that seemed to come from all directions, and then the walls fell.

They were standing out in the open in the middle of Diagon Alley. Their previous position was fifty yards ahead of them, and now housed a small, smoking crater. Sirius's eyes widened in realization. That crater had almost been them. Harry pushed Sirius back further towards the other side of the street.

"Stay back there..." Harry hissed, not turning his gaze from the crater. His face was blank, his right hand gripping his wand tightly. A dull silver shimmering erupted in the open air about twenty yards in front of Harry. The shimmering lit up brightly for a moment, and then a cloaked figure was standing there. Harry's wand hand shifted slightly, but he did nothing.

"_Harry_! I've been waiting for you." a young male voice issued from the folds of the cloak. The figure raised pale long fingered hands to the hood and pulled it down, revealing a boy of about seventeen. The boy had long brown hair and abnormally red lips, the deep color of blood.

"Kieran. Got off your leash again, did you?" Harry replied smoothly. The boy, Kieran, let out a short laugh.

"Oh, Harry. Always out of the loop, aren't you?" the boy smirked and licked his lips. Then there was a wand in his hand, and he made a quick slashing motion. A purple spell burst from the tip, heading directly towards Harry.

Harry flicked his wand lightly towards the ground, and a shield-like transparent silver wall rose up in front of him. The purple spell hit the wall and the two seemed to cancel each other out, evaporating in to nothing. Harry fired a shadow-like black spell at Kieran in return. The boy laughed and jumped aside to dodge the spell.

"Is that the best you can do, Harry?" Kieran taunted. He flicked his wand and Sirius heard a loud _snap_. Black ropes appeared around Harry, twisting tightly around his arms and chest like snakes. Harry's arms bound, he could do nothing as Kieran licked his lips and fired a blazing red spell at him.

Harry's entire body abruptly burst in to searing blue flames. The ropes immediately shriveled and disintegrated in the inferno. His hands free, Harry erected another silver shield in front of him. Like before, Kieran's spell hit the wall, crackling and dying out. The blue flames then seemed to rise up above Harry, as if they had a life of their own. The flames twisted in to the head of a snake, followed by a fierce body of scalding blue flames. The snake shot directly at Kieran, who's eyes widened slightly.

Kieran snarled and made a sweeping motion with his wand. A crack formed on the cobbled street in front of him, and the bricks began to rise. The segment of the street stayed whole, but the bricks that formed it's surface peeled up and off the ground, forming a ramp like structure that completely blocked Kieran from sight. The snake of blue fire hit the ramp harshly, but had no effect on it. The flames flowed harmlessly off the brick and dissipated. The stretch of bricks fell back to the ground with a crash, but the brown haired boy was no where to be seen.

Kieran appeared behind Harry and fired off a green spell at his back. Before Sirius could shout a warning, Harry disappeared, leaving the spell to glance harmlessly off the street. Harry did not reappear. Kieran stood still for a minute, eyeing the street.

"_Phoenix fire_, Harry?" the boy called out loudly, turning his head in all directions. "Dangerous stuff, that. I'm surprised you can wield it."

Harry appeared behind Kieran, a silver spell bursting from his wand. Kieran whirled around and erected a shadowed black shield to defend himself. The liquid-like silver spell hit the shield and met resistance. The two spells began to push against each other slowly, both rapidly shrinking, their power dissipating. The blackened shield suddenly buckled under the pressure, but the silver spell quickly ran out of strength and evaporated before it could reach it's target.

Zhar appeared above Harry and stooped low towards the ground. The tip of his left wing lightly rubbed against the street surface, leaving blue fire sprouting up where ever he touched. Kieran angrily fired a green spell at the bird, but Zhar dodged easily and continued on. The entire area around the two boys was quickly coated with patches of the blue phoenix fire. This didn't effect Harry, but Kieran seemed reluctant to get near the flames. The immediate area around Kieran seemed to repel the flames, blowing them away if they should try to approach. Zhar continued his dives, spreading the blue flames more and more over the area.

A few stray, broken red bricks on the street rose up around Kieran, who licked his lips again and laughed harshly. The bricks hovered there for a moment, and then shot at Harry with lightning speed. Harry disappeared and reappeared in a patch of blue flames on the opposite side of Kieran. Then a low hissing noise distracted Sirius, causing him to look towards the heavily damaged animal shop. The ground under the gaping hole in the wall seemed to be _moving_.

No, it wasn't moving, Sirius realized. Hundreds of snakes were flowing out of the building and on to the street. The snakes all seemed to be headed in the direction of Kieran, who stood in the same spot fiercely battling Harry. Kieran must have heard the hissing sound as the snakes approached, because he turned his head slightly, but couldn't disengage himself from Harry's steady barrage of spells.

A hissing noise issued from Kieran's mouth, and Sirius realized that it was parseltongue. As the snakes approached, weaving between the patches of phoenix fire, the hissing noise grew louder. Kieran seemed to be saying something to them, but the snakes were not wavering in their approach. The snakes inched closer, and Harry's spells grew larger and more intense, harder for Kieran to reflect. The blue phoenix fire surrounding Kieran reared up, growing over 10 feet tall and pressuring the invisible barrier that kept them away.

Kieran laughed, "Oh _very_ good, Harry. Until next time." the boy gave Harry a small wave, and then abruptly disappeared. Harry watched the spot for a moment, and then all the blue flames on the street began to fade and die out. The great mass of snakes dispersed, slithering away in all different directions. Harry sighed and turned his eyes towards Sirius, giving him that strange half-smile. Then loud pops could be heard all over the street as aurors appeared around him.

"_Zhar!_" Harry called out, and abruptly disappeared in a flash of blue flames. The aurors stood there a moment, and then one spotted Sirius. They turned towards him in unison, it seemed, and fired off stunning spells in his direction. Sirius stood, glued to the spot, and then he felt talons grasp his shoulder and familiar blue walls rising around him.

Sirius appeared in the guest room at Potter Manor, Zhar on his shoulder. Harry was sitting on the bed, and he looked up and smiled at them. Zhar flew over to Harry and affectionately nipped at him, nuzzling his cheek.

"Glad you made it," Harry said, stroking Zhar and reaching a hand in his robes to pull out the small white snake. Sirius didn't know how to respond. He would have liked to ask what, exactly, he had just witnessed. Or more particularly, _who_ he had just witnessed fighting Harry. Something told him that Harry wouldn't give a straight answer to these questions, though.

"Good job," Sirius smiled awkwardly, referring to the duel.

Harry looked up from the small ivory snake with a tired smile, "He didn't expect I had the ability to wield phoenix fire. He'll be prepared next time." Harry stood and made his way towards the door, hissing softly at the snake in his hands. "You better get some sleep, we have to head over to the train station in a few hours."

As Harry left the room, Sirius absently thought that Harry needed sleep more than he did. He had never seen the boy look so tired.

* * *

A/N: I'll be gone this weekend, so this will be the last update until next week. Thanks for reading, and don't forget to review! 


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